Shazam!

I am always a little suspicious about a  movie that feels the need to add an exclamation point to its title.  That usually screams ‘we didn’t make a very good movie and we hope this exclamation mark will make you ignore the buzz and see it anyway.’  Well, I am  not exactly right, nor am I exactly wrong.  This is after all a DC Universe movie, and we all know they just aren’t as good (with few exceptions) as Marvel movies.  This one wasn’t bad though.  In fact, if you have kids, this is a decent super hero movie to get their nerdy juices flowing.  Shazam is an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou) who transfers his super powers to fourteen year old Billy Batson.  Unfortunately, it’s a desparation move, as he is dying, and just can’t find a better candidate.  Billy is nowhere prepared enough to fill a super hero role!  Equally unfortunate, Shazam doesn’t have time to tell Billy what kind of powers he has or even how to use them.  Billy pretty much accidentally discovers that whenever he says the word ‘Shazam,’ he turns into an adult ( Zachary Levi) , buff, version of himself, while still retaining his teen age mindset.  Billy’s foster brother, Freddie, becomes his enthusiastic sidekick.  A lot of the heart and humor has to do with Shazam trying to figure out his powers – whether he is bullet proof (he is) or has invisibility (he doesn’t) and so on. Of course, there is an evil villian (Mark  Strong),  controlled by the evil spirits of the Seven Deadly Sins, out to destroy the world and only Shazam can stop him.  Compared to some of the other super hero movies (most notably Hell Boy), the violence is comparartively tame.  There is also a strong message about family, and another that will resonate with many kids.  Billy and many of his friends are the victims of bullies.  Even the main villan was bullied as a child.  The positive message is a little obvious at the end, but who cares?  All in all this is a sweet super hero movie that you can take your whole family to see.